Knitting machine



March-26, 1935. M. c. MILLER KNITTING MACHINE Original Filed Oct. 25,1930 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 1 l g b .94 M

March 26, 1935. v M. c. MILLER 1,995,645

KNITTING MACHINE Original Filed Oct. 25, 1950 3 She-ts-Sheet 2 I NJ 106\E 4% f 06 I I w March 26, 1935.

M. c. MILLER 1,995,645

KNITTING MACHINE- Original Filed Oct. '25, 1930 5 Sheets-Sheet 3Patented Mar. 26, 1935 want ATENT @FFEQE KNITTING MACHINE Max 6. Miller,(lumber-land, B. ll.

Application October 23, 1930, Serial No. 496,665 Renewed February 13,1933 33 Claims.

, The present invention relates to knitting machines and moreparticularly to the provision in a knitting machine of means fortransferring loops. As herein disclosed, the invention is embodied in astraight full-fashioned hosiery machine employing spring needles fixedlysecured to a needle bed which is moved to impart lateral movements tothe needles towards and away from fixed pressing surfaces and verticalmovements to draw down new loops. Loop transfer points are provided ateach end of the needle series and are movable into engagement with theneedles and relatively thereto to take the loops from the d needles andtransfer them for narrowing the fabric.

In machines of this description in which it is necessary to bringtransfer elements into engagement with the needles to take and return.the loops to the needles during the transfer operation, it has beenfound very difficult, particularly in fine gage machines, to secure anaccurate register of these elements with' the needles since both thetransfer elements and the needles are necessarily very small incross-section and easily bent or sprung out of their adjusted positions.In fi-xed needle machines, the needles are normally unsupported neartheir upper ends and are therefore particularly subject to becoming bentor sprung out of normal position by the pressure of the fabric and byengagement with cooperating elements during the knitting.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide means forcausing the transfer ele- 35 ments and the needles to be broughtaccurately and certainly into the proper register during the transferoperation.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a fixed needle machinenovel and improved 40 means for supporting the needles near their upperends to cause these elements to cooperate accurately with thecooperating knitting and loop transferring elements to form a uniformhigh grade of fabric.

With these and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear, theseveral features of the invention consist in the devices, combinationsand arrangement of parts hereinafter described and claimed which,together with the advantages 50 to be obtained thereby, will be readilyunderstood by one skilled in the art from the following descriptiontaken in connection with the ac companying drawings in which Fig. 1 is asectional view looking from the left of a full-fashioncd hosierymachine; Fig. 2 is a detail View on a somewhat larger scale illustratingparticularly the device for aligning the needles; Fig. 3 is a detailplan view showing a portion of the needle aligning devices; Fig. 4 is aview in front elevation illustrating particularly the needle aligningdevice; Fig. 5 is a detail view on an em larged scale of the narrowingpoints and their supporting mechanism; Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig.5 looking from the left; Figs. 7, 8 and 9 are detail plan views partlyin section of the narrowing points, needles, and the aligning memberscooperating with the narrowing points, Fig. 7 illustrati'n g the partsin position just previous to the engagement of the point aligningmembers with the needles, Fig. 8 showing the parts in position justprevious to the engagement of the points with the needles, and Fig. 9showing the parts in positionwith the needles in engagement with thepoints; Figs. 10 to inclusive are detail views illustrating differentpositions of the knitting and transfer elements, showing the variouspositions of the narrowing points, needles,- and cooperating elementsduring the complete cycle of operations involved in transferring a loopfrom one needle to another; Fig. 16 is a detail view partly in sectionillustrating the relative.- posi tions of the needle aligning comb,needles, and transfer points just previous to the register of the lowerends of the narrowing points with the needle aligning comb; and Fig. l?is a cross= sectional view taken on the line lll? of Fig. 5.

The full-fashioned macl'iine herein disclosed as embodying the severalfeatures of the inven tion comprises a multiple-section machine,approximately two sections being illustrated in the drawings. Eachsection is provided with spring beard needles 2% which are rigidly heldin a needle bar 26 which is adapted for vertical and lateral movementstocause the needles to cooperate effectively with the other lmittingelements. The machine is also equipped with fixed pressing surfaces 28and independently movable sinkers so which are mounted to slide inhorizontal slots formed in the frame 32, heing held in place by means ofa cover plate 33. The needle bar 26 is supported on horizontallyarranged lever arms 3awhich are secured to the rock shaft 36 and areoscillated about their pivot to impart vertical advancing and retractingmovements to the needle by means of a depending cam lever 38 which isprovided with a cam roll to adapted to engage with a corresponding camall. on the cam shaft 42. A tension spring indicated at is connected tothe lower end of the cam lever 38 and tends to hold the cam roll to inits mner position in contact with its operating cam. Lateral movementsare imparted to the needles towards and away from the fixed pressingsurfaces 28 by means of a depending arm 46 formed on the needle bar 26which is connected at its lower end by a link 48 to a second dependinglever arm 50 secured at its upper end to a shaft 52 and at its lower endprovided with a cam roll 53 adapted to engage with a corresponding cam55 on the cam shaft 42 to impart the desired lateral movements to theneedles.

Narrowing devices are provided which are adapted to engage with a numberof the end loops at each end of the fabric and transfer them inv wardlytwo loops at a time towards the center of the needle series. Thesedevices comprise two sets of narrowing points 54 which are mounted onsupports 56 located one at each end of each needle series, the supports56 located at the lefthand end of each section being fastened to therail 60 and the right-hand supports 58 being secured to the rail 62.These rails which extend throughout the machine length are mounted toslide relatively to each other to move the narrowing points toward thecenter of the needleseries in recesses formed in brackets 66 which arecarried on a shaft 68 extending along the length of the machine. Theshaft 68 is supported in bearings 70 which are carried by the levers 72rigidly secured to a rock shaft 74 running along the back side of themachine. In order to raise and lower the narrowing points into and outof operative relationship to the needles during the narrowing operation,links '76 are provided pivotally secured at their upper ends to thebearings 70 and at their lower ends to the transverse cam levers 78pivoted at their forward ends at 80 on the machine frame. Each cam lever'78 carries a cam roll 82 adapted during the narrowing operation to beengaged by a corresponding cam 81 on the cam shaft 42.

The transfer points ordinarily used in commercial machines of this typecomprise a shank portion which is recessed to receive the beard portionof the needle and a point offset from the shank to engage with therecess or eye of the needle which receives the tip of the needle beard.The manner in which the transfer points cooperate with the needles totransfer the loops during the narrowing operation will be clear LtlGlila consideration of Figs. 10 to 15 inclusive of the drawings, settingforth the several steps in the operation. The transfer points are movedovvnwardly into engagement with the needles which have been ad leavingthe loops to be transferred on the lower shank portions of the needles.The transfer points are brought into register with the needle eyes, andthe beard portions of the needles fit into the recesses in the shanks ofthe transfer points so that these elements are held firmly in lookingrelationship. The needles and transfer points are now moved downwardlyas a unit to cause the loops to ride from the needle shanks onto thetransfer points. While the needles remain at substantially the knockoverlevel, the transfer points are slightly lifted to disengage the loopsfrom the needles and thereafter both the points and needles are raisedso that the Points are above the knockover level. the transfer pointsbeing then moved laterally to carry the loops 2. distance of two needlestoward the center of the needle series. The transfer points and needlesare now moved downwardly until he hooks of the needles are again atabout the vanced to their high position knockover level, when thetransfer points and needles are for the second time brought intooperative engagement. The needles are now raised to permit their hookedends to enter the loops held by the transfer points, and the points aremoved laterally away from the needles. The upward movement of theneedles and transfer points is then continued to bring the needles totheir high position preparatory to the knitting of a new course of loopsand to return the transfer points to their normal inoperative position,the transfer points at this time being moved upwardly at a somewhatfaster rate than the necdles to cause the loops to slide off the ends ofthe points onto the needles, completing the transfer of the loops.

As thus far described, the machine is similar in every respect toordinary Cotton system hosiery machines.

With the construction and mode of operation of the needles and transferpoints above described, it will be seen that these elements must be veryaccurately spaced and positioned to bring each transfer point exactlyinto register with its corresponding needle or dropped stitches andinferior fabric will result. Particularly in fine gage machines wherethe needles and cooperating elements are necessarily constructed of verythin stock and are likely to be bent or sprung out of their correctpositions with continued use, it is necessary to plier the needles andpoints frequently during the operation of the machine to bring them intotheir proper operating relationship. This operation requires theservices of a highly skilled operator, and can not even then prevent theintroduction of a large percentage of seconds in the knitting offull-fashioned hosiery and similar fine gage fabrics.

The present invention contemplates the provision of means for supportingthe needles and transfer elements in their true operating relationshipduring the narrowing operation and for registering these elementsaccurately and certainly with relation to each other to transfer theloops. To this end, a transfer element a and supporting comb is providedwi h eacl fer point unit which acts to support the er elements in spacedrelationship and also acts to register the transfer points accuratelywith the needles in their high position at the beginning of the transferoperation. The invention further contemplates the provision of a needlecomb adapted to engage with and support the needles cooperating witheach transfer point unit, and also adapted to register the transferpoints accurately with relation to the needles to return the needleloops at the end of the transfer operation.

In order to hold the transfer points in spaced relationship so that theywill engage with and register accurately with relation to the needles, acomb 84 is provided which engages with and holds in spaced relationshipthe transfer points of each group. Each comb 8% is secured by means of aset screw 86 to the lower end of a bar 88 which is adapted for verticalmovement in a slot 90 formed in the supporting bracket 56 for thecorresponding unit of transfer points, being held in place by means of acover member 92.

A compression spring 94 secured at its upper end to a bracket 95 formedon the cover member 92 and at its lower end secured to an abutment 98 onthe lower end of the bar 88, tends to move the bar 88 and the comb 84downwardly to a limiting position with a pin 100 formed. on the upperend of the bar 88 in engagement with the cover member92. The teeth ofthe transfer point comb 84, as best shown in Figs. '7, 8 and 9, areformed with thickened pointed end portions 102 extending beyond thefront line of the transfer points to engage with and guide the needlesinto accurate register with the transfer points when these elements arebrought into operative engagement at the raised position of the needlesat the beginning of the transfer operation. ,When the machine is firstset up and also atintervals during the operation of the machine, it isnecessary to plier or line up the transfer points by hand to bring theseinto true operating relationship with the needles. In carrying out thisoperation, it will often happen that the shanks of the points willbebent slightly by the operator .so that they do not maintain a truevertical line along their whole length to correspond exactly with theditill rection of movement of the supporting bar 88. To reduce so faraspossible the frictional re sistance which would be encountered inmoving the comb to bring the needles into the exact vertical position ateach point of contact along the shanks .of the transfer points,provision has been made to permit a slight lateral movement of the combin either direction as it is moved longitudinally of the transfer pointshanks by making the slot 90 in which the supporting bar 88 is mountedto slide large enough to allow some play to the bar 88 in the slot.

The manner in which the transfer point comb 84 cooperates with the otherknitting elements during the transfer operation is shown in Figs. 10 to15 inclusive. As the transfer points are moved downwardly from theirinoperative position, the abutment 98 on the lower end of the supportingbar 88 is brought into engagement with the cover plate 33 for thesinkers, thus limiting the downward movement of the comb 84 with thetransfer points, as shown in Figs. 11 and 12, at a point above the levelof operation of the sinkers and inposition to engage with and registerthe needles with the transfer points at the beginning of the transferoperation. The needles are now moved rearwardly from the position shownin full lines in Fig. 7 and in dotted lines in Fig. 11 into contact withthe enlarged end portions 102 of the transfer point comb 84 and arecaused to register accurately with the transfer points as shown in Figs.8 and 9. The comb 34 is held in its depressed position with the abutment98 in contact with the cover plate 33 during the remainder of thetransfer operation and assists materially to support the transfer pointsin their true spaced relationship while the transfer points arepartially raised and moving laterally to transfer the loops along theneedle series as shown in Fig. 13.

In order to support the needles near their upper ends during thenarrowing operation and to cause these elements to be registeredaccurately with relation to the transfer points to transfer the loopsheld on the needles, two combs are provided mounted on each needlesupport and adapted to engage with and support the needles in theircorrect positions. .At the end of the transfer operation, when thetransfer points are brought into engagement with the needles atsubstantially the knockover level to transfer the loops from thetransfer points back to the shanks of the needles, the needle combs areadapted to occupy a raised position to cause the needles at their upperends to be accurately spaced and aligned, and to engage with andregister the transfer points at this time with the needles. When theneedles are raised, however, during the normal knitting on the machine,it is necessary to retract the combs on the needle shanks to preventintenference with the sinkers and other cooperating kfiitting elements.Since the teeth of the combs must necessarily fill substantially thewhole space between adjacent needles to accurately space these elements,and a continuous relative movement between needles and combs would causeinjurious wear between the parts, the needle supporting combs arebypreference normally held in a fixed inoperative positionwell down on theneedle shanks, and are advanced to afford a support for the upper endsof the needles only during the narrowing operation.

As illustrated in Figs. 1, 2 and 4 of the drawings, a shaft 106 isjournaled for vertical movement in a sleeve 108 mounted in the needlesupport 26 for each section of the machine and has mounted on its upperend a transversely extending member 110 on which the needle combs 112are carried, one being mounted adjacent each endof the member 110 tosupport and guide the needles cooperating with the correspondingtransfer point unit. 'The teeth of the combs 112, as previously pointedout, are made sufficiently heavy to substantially fill the spacesbetween the needles and thus to insure the proper spacing of the needlesto register with the transfer elements. The ends of the teeth arepointed and extend beyond the front sides of the needles to engagebetween and register the transfer points with relation to the needlesforthe purpose of transferring the loops back to the needles at the endof the narrowing operation.

When the needles are pliered or lined up in the original set-up of themachine or during the operation, it will often happen that all of theneedles may be bent a little to one side, and yet have the needle hookscentral between the sinkers or they may be bent forward or back of thetrue vertical line of the needle support on which the lateral member 110and the shaft 106 are adapted to move. It has thereforebeen founddesirable to mount the needle combs 112 on the lateral member 110 insuch a manner as to permit a slight lateral movement of the needle combs112 with relation to'the member 110 to eliminate the large frictionalresistance which must be overcome in straightening a comparatively largenumber of needles simultaneously to a true vertical line. The combs 112are therefore arranged to permit sidewise and forward movement withrelation to the support, a loose connection being provided for thispurpose comprising a pin 114 o the transverse member 110 which passesthrough an enlarged hole 116 formed in the base of the comb A coverplate 118 is provided to hold the comb 112 in position on the transversemember 110. In order to bring the needles as nearly as possible intotrue alignment, a hair pin spring 120 bearing at each end against thecomb 112 and having its central portion secured at 122 to the transversesupporting member 110, is provided to force the comb yieldlngly intocontact with the backs of the needles.

The transverse member 110 and the combs 112 are normally held in adepressed position with the combs in contact with the lower portion ofthe needles by means of a compression spring 12% coiled aboutv the shaft106 between the lower end of the sleeve 108 and a collar.1 26 -.securedto the lower end of the shaft 106. Thetransverse mem- 1 comb may supportthe upper portions of the needles at substantially the knockover levelwhen required during the narrowing operation, by means of a lever 132 onthe machine frame, and arranged to be brought into contact with thelower end of the shaft 106. Also secured to the shaft 130 is a cam lever136 which is provided at its forward end with a roll 138 arranged duringthe narrowing operation to come into engagement with a cam 140 on thecam shaft 42. A tension spring 142 secured at one end to a hook on thelever 136 and at its other end to a point on the machine tends to movethe levers 128 yieldingly in a downward direction out of contact withthe shaft 106, this movement of the levers 128 and the corresponding camlevers 136 being limited by the engagement of one or more stop levers144 secured to the rock shaft 130 with the back rail 134. During thenormal knitting on the machine, the cam levers 136 and cam rolls 138occupy a correspondingly low position above the cam shaft 42 out ofcontact with the actuating cams 140. when the cam shaft 42 is movedaxially, as in ordinary practice, to bring the narrowing mechanism intooperation, the cams 140 are moved into operative position under therolls 138. The

a continued rotation of the cam shaft 42 and cams 140 causes the rolls138 to ride on the high portions of the cams and thus acts to raise thecombs 112 in timed relation to-the operation of the machine.

As shown in Figs. 10 to 15 of the drawings, illustrating the severalsteps in the narrowing operation, the needle combs 112 are held in theirnormal retracted position until just prior to the transfer of the loopsfrom the transfer points back to the needles. As clearly shown in Figs.13 to 16 inclusive, the combs 112 are moved to a raised position on theneedle shanks so that their upper surface is just below the tips of theneedle beards, thus positively bringing the needles into their truespaced relationship. As the needles with their combs are now moved intoengagement with the points, the transfer points will come into contactwith the pointed teeth of the combs 112 and be guided accurately andcertainly into register with the needles.

From the foregoing description, it will be seen that the presentinvention provides a simple, efficient and practical construction andarrangement of parts by which the needles of a knitting machine and moreparticularly of a fixed needle machine employing cooperating knittingelements may beaccurately spaced and aligned adjacent their hook endsand made to register accurately and certainly with a correspondingseries of transfer elements to transfer the loops from one needle toanother without introducing cumbersome supporting mechanisms which wouldinterfere with the operation of the cooperating knitting elements, andwithout causing excessive wear on the moving parts.

While the several features of the invention have been disclosed inconnection with a full-fashioned straight fixed needle hosiery machine,it is to be understood that the invention in its broader aspects is notlimited to a machine of this description but is equally applicable toany fixed needle machine employing transfer elements to transfer loopsfrom one needle to another.

It is also to be understood that the several features of the invention,except as defined in the'claims, are not limited to any particularconstruction' or arrangement of parts and in this connection, attentionis called particularly to the feature of the invention embodied in thecombs for aligning and supporting the needles during the looptransferring operation, which feature in its broader aspects, may beutilized in a construction for supporting and aligning the needles atother times and in connection with other special cooperating knittingelements or instrumentalities during the knitting operation, as forinstance, in the use of transfer elements for knitting fancy fabric andfor other purposw.

This feature of the invention in its broader aspects contemplates theprovision of a series of members having spacing portions substantiallyequal in thickness to the thickness between the needles, which arearranged to engage between and accurately space the upper portions ofthe needles for operative engagement with special instrumentalities forthe performance of a special operation during the course of theknitting, and thereafter move and are maintained out of engagement withsaid upper portions of the needles during normal knitting, so that thewear on the parts due to the movement of the needles with relation tothe spacing members while in operating position, may be reduced to aminimum.

The invention having been described, what is claimed is:

- 1. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles andcooperating knitting ele ments to form a knitted fabric, of a series oftransfer elements to transfer loops from one needle to another, andmembers engaging with the transfer elements and the needles to guidethese elements relatively into operative engagement.

2. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles andcooperating knitting elements to form a knitted fabric, of a series oftransfer elements to transfer loops from one needle to another, asupport to which said elements are secured, and additional means carriedby the support for additionally supporting and guiding the free ends ofthe transfer elements to align these elements relatively for operativeengagement with the needles.

3. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles andcooperating knitting elements to produce a knitted fabric, of a seriesof transfer points, and a comb having teeth extending between theneedles adapted to engage with and center the transfer points on theneedles.

4. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles andcooperating knitting elements to produce a knitted fabric, of a. seriesof transfer points and a comb having teeth extending between andseparating the needles, and a supporting comb having teeth extendingbetween and separating the transfer points, said combs being adapted toalign the transfer points with the needles during the loop transferringoperation.

5. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles andcooperating knitting elements to produce a lmitted fabric, of a seriesof loop transfer points, a comb having teeth extending between andseparating the needles adapted to engage with and center the transferpoints on the needles, and a supporting comb having teeth extendingbetween and separating the transfer points adapted to engage with andcenter the needles with relation to the transfer points.

6. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles .andcooperating knitting elements to produce a knitted fabric, of a combhaving teeth extending between and substantially filling thespacesbetween the needles, a support for the comb arranged to produce relativemovements of the comb and the needles lengthwisepf the needle shanks,and a sliding connection between said comb and support to permit a freemovement of said comb under the influence of the needles lengthwise ofthe needle series during said relative movements lengthwise of theneedle shanks.

8. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles" andcooperating knitting elements to produce aknitted fabric, of a needlebed to which the needles are fixedly secured, a comb having teethextending between and substantially filling the spaces between theneedles, a support for the comb mounted on the needle bed and movablerelatively thereto to effect a movement of the comb lengthwise of thenedle shanks, and a sliding connection between said support and combhaving a loose connection to permit a free lateral movement of the combunder the influence of the needles lengthwiseoftheneedleseries duringsaid movements of the comb and support lengthwise of the needle shanks.

9. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles andcooperating knitting elements to produce a knitted fabric, of a needlebed to which the needles are fixedly secured, a comb having teetharranged to extend between and substantially fill the spaces between theneedle shanks, a support for the comb, means to produce relativemovements of the comb and the needles longitudinally of the needleshanks, and a connection between said support and the comb arranged topermit a free lateral movement of the comb under the influence of theneedles lengthwise of the needle series during said rela- -tivemovements lengthwise of the needle shanks.

10. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles andcooperating knitting elements to produce a knitted fabric, of a needlebed to which the needles are secured, a comb having teeth registeringbetween the needles mounted on the upper end of a rod journaled to slidelengthwise of the needles in the needle support, connections between therod and the comb arranged to permit movement of the comb lengthwise ofthe needle series and forwardly with relation thereto, and spring meanstending to hold the comb in yielding engagement with the needles.

11. In a knitting machine,the combination witha series of needles andcooperating knitting elements to produce a knitted fabric, of a supporton which the needles are mounted to move as a unit, a series of transferpoints cooperating therewith, a comb having teeth extending between andsupporting the needles, and means acting when rendered operative toimpart a longitudinal movement to the comb relatively to the needles tocause the teeth of the comb to en- I gage between and center thetransfer points with relation to the needles.

12. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles andcooperating knitting elements to produce a knitted fabric, of a series 1of transfer points, and a comb extending between the needles adapted toengage with and center the transfer points on the needles.

13. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles'andcooperating knitting elements to produce a knitted fabric, of a seriesof transfer points, and a supporting comb having teeth extending betweenthe transfer points to maintain the transfer points in their true spacedelements to produce a knitted fabric, of a series of transfer points, asupport on which the transfer points are mounted for movement towardsand away from the needles, a supporting comb extending between thetransfer points, a slide on the support on which the comb is, mounted tomove longitudinally of the transfer points, spring means for holding thecomb normally in a depressed position, and means for limiting thedownward movement of the comb with the transfer points.

16. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles andcooperating knitting elements to produce a knitted fabric, of a needlesupport on which the needles are mounted to move as a unit, a series oftransfer elements, and a comb having teeth extending between andsubstantially filling the spaces between the transfer elements tomaintain these elements .in their true spaced relationship.

17. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles andcooperating knitting elements to produce a knitted fabric, of a seriesof transfer elements movable relatively into engagement with the needlesto transfer needle loops from one needle to another, and a comb engagingbetween the needles adapted to bring the hook ends of the needles intotrue spaced relationship to engage with the transfer points.

18. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles andcooperating knitting elements to produce a knitted fabric, of a supporton which the needles are mounted to move as a unit, a series of transferpoints, a holder for the transfer points, a comb having teeth extendingbetween and supporting the transfer points mounted for movementlengthwise thereof on the transfer point support, mechanism fordepressing the transfer points to' bring them into operativerelationship to the needles during the loop transfer operation, andmeans engaging with the comb to limit the downward movement of the combwith the transfer points.

19. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles andcooperating knitting elements to produce a knitted fabric, of a seriesof transfer points, and a comb having teeth extending between thetransfer points with thin portions at the point of contact with thetransfer points and-thickened end portions to engage with the needles.

20. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles andtheir cooperating knitting elements, of a needle support on which theneedles are mounted to move as a unit, a series of transfer points, asupport on which the transfer points are secured, a comb having teethengaging between and supporting the transfer points, and a slide on thesupport to which the comb is secured for movement longitudinally of thetransfer points, the slide being arranged to permit a slight lateralmovement of the comb.

21. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles andcooperating knitting elements including knockover surfaces to form aknitted fabric, ofa series of special instrumentalities arranged tocooperate with the needles to transfer loops, a needle support on whichthe needles are fixed to move as a unit, a comb having teeth extendingbetween and supporting the needles adapted for lengthwise movement withand relatively to the needles, means for maintaining the comb in arelatively retracted position on the needle shanks during normalknitting, and means acting when rendered operative in cooperation withsaid special instrumentalities to advance the comb inde pendently ofsaid needle movements to a position adjacent said knockover surfaces.

22. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles andcooperating knitting elements including knockover surfaces to form aknitted fabric, of a series of fixed pressing surfaces, a support onwhich the needles are mounted to move as a unit adapted for verticalmovements and lateral movements towards and away from the pressingsurfaces, a series of special instrumentalities arranged to cooperatewith the needles to transfer loops, a comb having teeth extendingbetween and supporting the needles mounted on said support forlengthwise movement with and relatively to the needles, means formaintaining the comb on said support in a relatively retracted positionon the needle shanks during normal knitting, and means acting whenrendered operative in cooperation with said special instrumentalities toadvance the comb independently'of said needle movements to a positionadjacent said knockover surfaces to accurately space the needles withrelation to said loop transfer instrumentalitles.

23. In a knitting machine, the combination" with a series of needles andcooperating knitting elements including knockover surfaces to form aknitted fabric, of special instrumentalities arranged to cooperate withthe needles to transfer loops, a needle support on which the needles arefixed to move as a unit, a comb having teeth extending between andsupporting the needles adapted for lengthwise movement with andrelatively to the needles, means for maintaining the comb in arelatively retracted position on the needle shanks during normalknitting, cam means for actuating the needles and cooperating knittingelements to produce knitted fabric, additional cams acting when renderedoperative to impart cooperating movements to the needles and to saidspecial loop transfer instrumentalities to transfer loops, and meansacting automatically during said transfer operation to advance the combto a position adjacent said knockover surfaces.

24. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles andcooperating knitting elements including knockover surfaces to form aknitted fabric, of special instrumentalities arranged to cooperate withthe needles to transfer loops, a needle support on which the needles arefixed to move as a unit, a comb having teeth extending between andsupporting the needles adapted for lengthwise movement with andrelatively to the needles, means for maintaining the comb in arelatively retracted position on the needle shanks during normalknitting, cam means for actuating the needles and cooperating knittingelements to produce knitted fabric, and additional cam means acting whenrendered operative to impart cooperating movements to the needles andsaid special loop transfer instrumentalities to transfer loops, said cammeans acting automatically during said transfer operation to advance thecomb to a position adjacent said knockover surfaces.

25. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needleshaving point engaging eyes and cooperating knitting elements to form aknitted fabric, of a series of transfer points, and a comb having teetharranged to extend between the needles at substantially the level of theneedle eyes to engage with and guide said points into the needle eyes.

26. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needleshaving point engaging eyes and cooperating knitting elements to form aknitted fabric, of a series of transfer points, and a comb having teetharranged to extend between the needles at substantially the level of theneedle eyes to engage between the points substantially at their tips toguide the points into the needle eyes.

2'1. In a knitting machine, the combination witha series of needleshaving point engaging eyes and cooperating knitting elements to form aknitted fabric, of a series of transfer points, a comb having teetharranged to extend between the needles to engage with and guide thepoints into the needle eyes, and means for relatively moving said comband needles to position the comb at substantially the eye level to guidethe tips of the points into engagement with the needle eyes.

28. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needleshaving point engaging eyes and cooperating knitting elements to form aknitted fabric, of a series of transfer points, means to producerelative movements of the points and needles lengthwise and laterally ofthe needle shanks .to engage the points in the needleeyes, and a combhaving teeth arranged to extend between theneedles at substantially theeye level to engage with and guide the points into the needle eyesduring the said relative lateral movement of the needle and points.

29. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles andcooperating knitting elements to produce a knitted fabric, of a seriesof transfer points grooved to receive the needles, and a supporting combhaving teeth extending between the transfer points arranged to enterbetween the thin tip portions of the needles to guide the needles intothe point grooves.

30. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles andcooperating knitting-elements to produce a knitted fabric, of a seriesof transfer points grooved to recelvethe needles, means to producerelative movements of the points and needles lengthwise of and laterallyof the needle shanks to enga e the points with the needles, and a combhaving teeth extending between the transfer points adapted to engagebetweenthe thin tip portions pf during said relative lateral movementsof the needles and points to guide the needles into the grooves.

31. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles andcooperating knitting elements to form a knitted fabric, of a series oftransfer elements adapted to cooperate with the needles for a transferoperation distinct from normal knitting and a series of members havingportions of thickness substantially equal to the spacing between theneedles and adapted to space the upper portion of said needles duringtransfer operation, means for causing relative movement of the needlesand members to cause the members to accurately space the upper portionsof said needles for such transfer operation only, and thereafter tocause said spacing portions to be moved and to be maintained out ofengagement with said upper portions of the needles for normal knittingand means for supporting said members adjacent the needles and forpositively guiding the members and needles throughout their relativemovement to and from said spacing relation.

32. In a knitting machine, the combination with a series of needles andcooperating knitting elements to form a knitted fabric, of a series ofspecial loop engaging instrumentalities arranged to cooperate at timeswith the needles to perform a special operation, a series of membershaving spacing portions substantially equalin thickness to the spacingbetween the needles, said needles and members being relatively movable,and means effective to produce relative movement therebetween to causesaid spacing portions to be engaged between and space upper portions ofthe needles to cooperate with said special instrumentalities for saidspecial operation and thereafter to cause said spacing portions to bemoved and to be maintained out of engagement with said upper portions ofthe needles for normal knitting.

33. In a knitting machine, the combination with a moving needle bed,substantially vertical needles secured only at their lower ends to saidmoving needle bed and cooperating knitting elements to form a knittedfabric, of a series of transfer elements, means for efiecting relativemovements between the upper end portions of the needles and the transferelements to secure cooperative relationship therebetween for transfer ofloops at a predetermined time and to remain out of cooperativerelationship during normal knitting operations, a series of membersadapted to engage between and space upper portions of the needles forsaid transfer operation, and means for effecting relative movementbetween said spacing members and said upper portions of said needles tocause said spacing members to be engaged between and space the upperportions of said needles only during said transfer operation and to thenbe moved and maintained out of engagement with said upper portions ofthe needles for normal knitting.

MAX C. MILLER.

